This has always been a subject of debate among Dragon Ball fans. Who is the strongest human? It is obviously not Yamcha or Chao-zu, so who is stronger, Krillin or Tenshinhan? In Dragon Ball, Volumes 1- 16 of the manga, Tenshinhan is stronger. Tenshinhan had the same power level exactly as Goku did in their match in the finals of the budokai. In the previous round Goku defeated Krillin in a great fight. But, as the story progressed many things changed in DragonBall and this is one of them. In Volumes 17 - 42 of the manga, or Dragon Ball Z in the anime, Krillin is the superior warrior. At the very beginning Tenshinhan is still stronger, but after the training on Kami-sama's palace Krillin became stronger.

    During the Nappa-Vegeta fight we see Krillin is stronger. Tenshinhan defeats only one saibaman, where as Krillin instantly annihilates three of them. And during the fight with Nappa, Tenshinhan dies, he was incapacitated very early in the fight. In the anime he fights a little more, but he is completely ineffective. Krillin and Piccolo do most of the damage to Nappa. In one exchange Krillin leaves a massive bruise on the forehead of Nappa. Tenshinhan never actually hurts Nappa. Also, right before Nappa attacks Gohan Krillin sends him flying with only two hits. He then nearly kills Nappa with his Kienzan. If it weren't for Vegeta, Krillin would have killed him. He also takes an indirect hit of the attack that killed Piccolo. He also fights Vegeta, and is the only one to get up to stop Vegeta despite massive injuries. In the Freeza saga we see more proof that Krillin is stronger. After the Saicharou power up, he is near the level of Vegeta. He beats on Guldo and knocks Recoom's teeth out.

    When fighting Freeza, his Kienzan chopped Freeza's tail of. He and Gohan also save Goku and Piccolo when the spirit bomb is charging by firing ki blasts. Tenshinhan never did anything but train at Kaio-sama's. In the Cell Saga, there are few clues to indicate who is stronger. Against the androids neither really does anything. Krillin injures the first form cell, and is easily beaten by Perfect Cell. Tenshinhan holds off the second form, but never really show anything that could be compared. Although Krillin does kill Cell with Trunks.

    In the Buu Saga, the greatest example ever is given. During the Budokai, Yamcha says that Krillin is the strongest human. You might be saying, well they haven't seen Tenshinhan for seven years, but it's an anime. Whatever Akira Toriyama says goes. In the DragonBall universe he knows all because he created it. So it's really Akira's way of saying Krillin is the strongest. It would make sense, Krillin is the strongest human, and his best friend is the strongest Saiya-jin. Another example is in Movie 9 (Bojack) it is said that Krillin is the strongest human. He is also disappointed because Gohan, Piccolo and Trunks are in the Budokai because he said he could do something against Tenshinhan and Yamcha. Yet another proof is the fact that Krillin is far more intelligent. In battle power is not all the matters. Krillin is an expert at sensing Ki and is generally very intelligent (unlike the dub). One example is when Piccolo is fighting Android 17, Tenshinhan is surprised at Piccolo's ki, but Krillin tells him that it could go higher. He also realized that Trunks could reach a level Vegeta couldn't when Cell first became perfect. No one else realized it, not even Vegeta himself. Also, if you look at the Budokai's you can tell Krillin is smart. When he fights Chao-zu is a classic example. Krillin over powers Chao-Zu, but Chao-zu used his telekinesis at held Krillin in place. To do this he had to use his hands, so Krillin asked him to add numbers. Since Chao-zu wasn't very smart, he had to count on his fingers, giving Krillin a chance to move, and attack. It is obvious from the afore mentioned evidence that not only is more powerful he is the all around superior warrior of the humans. This segment has been provided by Kienzan's Edge. I have ask permission to borrow this. So if you want to use this visit Kienzan's site and ask him your self.